Dale Earnhardt Jr

[Nordic]

http://www.yardsailor.com/_earnhardt/

Clip of young Dales firery crash in the alms yeasterday.
lucky chap..........

[gibberish]

OUCH!!!!!!!

Can't help thinking the fire crew were a bit slow on the scene, but what a lucky bloke.

[Fax]

Apparently when he hit the wall backwards, the impact shattered the neck between the fuel valve and tank and something in the region of 1/2 of a gallon of fuel spilled and...whoosh!  Quite a weenie roast going there.  The ding-dong wasn't wearing a balaclava or fireproof shreddies hence the leg and facial burns.
Nothing like a big fire to get motor racing on the evening news.
John

[hgb]

Did I spot some overtaking despite yellow flags ? I think yes...

[jpchenet]

Apparently when he hit the wall backwards, the impact shattered the neck between the fuel valve and tank and something in the region of 1/2 of a gallon of fuel spilled and...whoosh!  Quite a weenie roast going there.  The ding-dong wasn't wearing a balaclava or fireproof shreddies hence the leg and facial burns.
Nothing like a big fire to get motor racing on the evening news.
John

I'm no great aficionado of the rules, but I'd always assumed fireproof coveralls and balaclava were compulsory.

Glad to hear he's not seriously hurt. Rumour is he will still be racing in the NASCAR event thsi coming weekend!

[Fax]

JP,
Nope, firesuit, hemet, etc. are mandatory but kit like fireproof underwear and a balaclava are up to the driver.  Most of the NASCAR guys don't wear a balaclava, guess its too hot inside the cars.  Right up to the end of his career AJ Foyt used to wear leather driving gloves and Richard Petty didn't wear gloves at all!
Not very bright but they're good old boys so what would you expect.
John

[Steve Pyro]

Glad to see his injuries were only minor.

I guess this event will accelerate the development of the C6 racer!

[jpchenet]

JP,
Nope, firesuit, hemet, etc. are mandatory but kit like fireproof underwear and a balaclava are up to the driver.  Most of the NASCAR guys don't wear a balaclava, guess its too hot inside the cars.  Right up to the end of his career AJ Foyt used to wear leather driving gloves and Richard Petty didn't wear gloves at all!
Not very bright but they're good old boys so what would you expect.
John

When they refer to a firesuit, I assume they mean the racing overalls (as Johnny is wearing in the picture on the left) If so, are these actually fireproof, and if so, why the need for fireproof underwear as well?? Whichever, and as with the guys you mentioned with their choice of hand attire (or lack of it!) I supppose these guys know the risks involved so to a certain extent it's up to them if they want to take the risk.

I have to add that I think he remained remarkabley composed throughout the whole incident and got himself out quite quickly considering there were flames all around him (what did we do before in-car cameras). Good job too as the marshalls weren't that quick getting to him (IMHO)

[Nordic]

jr's dad was a very vocal in his opions on the HANS neck collar and refused to wear one (invented by long time sportscar driver Jim Dowling), big shame, as it was maybe the one thing that would have saved his life.

Daft these race car drivers, if it where me I would wear the lot, then wrap myself in bubble wrap to be extra sure.

I dared to suggest the marshals where a bit tardy on another other and get flamed more than jr did. Glad it was'nt just me that thought so, this is by no means a critism, as I doubt I would be the one running towards a car that has just expoloded.

[Matt Harper]

Most triple layer Nomex fire suits only offer protection for a matter of seconds. Nomex undergarments, gloves and balaclavas offer additional protection - again - only for a few seconds. Petrol (particularly racing fuel) has a very, very high burning energy, remember.
I wouldn't be so quick to blame the marshalls in this incident. I don't think they hung back - it was a very intense fire and I don't think I would have wanted to get that close to it. Not sure what happened to the 'tear-away' fuel valve system.......
Little E didn't seem too non-plussed about the situation because he had been temporarily rendered unconcious. He seemed to get his sh1t together PDQ once he'd come round!
Since making the Hans Device mandatory is many professional formulae, you'd have figured that basic fire protection for drivers was a given wouldn't you.
James Hunt used to take it all very seriously. He used to race with a Nomex 'skirt' attached to his helmet and breathing air piped-in, in case of a conflagration - precautions that would certainly have spared Lauda some of his more severe wounds.

[Canada Phil]

Hi Guys,
            As Matt points out the suits provide a very short time of protection. Yes they are fireproof ie it will not burn however the HEAT is what gets through after a few seconds. Most series specify the number of layers of Nomex to be worn: so a three layer suit or a two layer suit with underwear would be equal. Three + underwear better still.
Canada Phil

[Matt Harper]

Just read on a US Corvette forum that Earnhard's fuel cell had been replaced immediately before the warm-up. maybe there is more to this than meets the eye........

[Fax]

As Phil very well pointed out, while the driver may not be exposed to direct flame, the heat still gets through.  I remember when Gerhard Berger had his frightening accident at Imola back in '89, he suffered burns on his upper torso not from the fire directly but because the sweat that had accumulated under his firesuit turned to steam and he ended up being scalded by his own persperation.  The biggest danger in a fire is of the driver inhaling the flames, this was what inflicted such devastating lung injuries to Niki at the Ring back in 1976.  This is obviously a big danger to a driver who is unconcious or stunned as Dale was yesterday.
John

[jpchenet]

I didn't realise he had gone unconscious. Thank goodness it was only short term. If he'd have not got himself out of the car I dread to think what the outcome might have been!

Don't get me wrong about the Marshalls. I think they do a great job. I just thought that trying to get a guy out of a burning car might have figured a little higher than waving the yellow flag. I think the other drivers probably knew that with a car on fire on the track they needed to slow down and that the session would be stopped. That said, I agree Matt, I wouldn't be so keen to run towards a car that's on fire.......but that's probably why I'm not a marshall.

[BigH]

I met, and had a bit of a chat last year with Mike Salmon, and a nice fellow he was too.
You must have seen that amazing sequence of black and white shots, with his GT40 going up in flames, and him sitting on the tarmac in a ball of fire. (what year and what corner, anyone?). He reckoned that it was the first year that the drivers had been provided with flameproof gloves/gauntlets, but nearly all, to a man, didn't bother wearing them, and had a bit of a laugh about the whole idea of it. He went on to say that as he sat in the Ford, surrounded by fire, he looked down at this hands and was surprised to see how quickly the bones had been exposed by the flames.
Interestingly, reading JPC's comments about the marshalls, Mike Salmon reckoned that the marshalls froze, and it was left to a spectator (or it could have been a photographer) to grab an extinguisher from the marshalls post and put him out.
What would you wrap your winkle in for chrissakes?!
H